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  Kate tossed it to her.

  Ashley turned up her nose at the scrambled eggs, though she fed Channing a piece of turkey bacon before thrusting a piece of paper at Kate. “You can sign it or I can forge dad’s signature.”

  “Hey,” Eddie said from the table. He pushed his glasses farther up on his nose. “I’m right here.”

  Kate grabbed the paper from Ashley and skimmed it. Permission slip to . . . skip state testing. “No.” Skipping testing was the last thing the too-smart, underachieving, overly dramatic teen needed to do.

  “Dad,” Ashley said, going for an appeal.

  “Whatever Kate says,” Eddie said.

  “You can’t skip testing,” Kate said. “Consider it practice for your SATs for college. You want to get the heck out of here and far away from all of us, right? This is step one.”

  Ashley rolled her eyes so hard that Kate was surprised they didn’t roll right out of her head.

  Tommy bounced into the room. He took one look at the camel and hugged it close. “It’s perfect,” he declared. Then he promptly inhaled up every crumb on his plate. He smiled at Kate as he pushed his little black-rimmed glasses farther up on his nose, looking so much like a younger, happier version of their dad that it tightened her throat.

  A car horn sounded from out front. Kate glanced at the clock and rushed Tommy and Ashley out the door. Ashley got into Kate’s car and turned left, heading toward her high school. Tommy and Kate got into the waiting car, which turned right to head to the elementary school.

  Their driver was Ryan Stafford, Kate’s second-best friend and the principal of the elementary school.

  And her ex.

  He must have had a district meeting scheduled because he was in a suit today, complete with tie, which she knew he hated. With his dark blond hair, dark brown eyes, and lingering tan from his last fishing getaway, he looked like Barbie’s Ken, the boardroom version. He watched as Kate got herself situated and handed him a to-go mug of coffee.

  “What?” she said when he just continued to look at her.

  “You know what.” He gestured a chin toward the cup she’d handed him. “You’re adding me to your little kingdom again.”

  “My kingdom? You wish. And the coffee’s a ‘thanks for the ride,’ not an ‘I don’t think you can take care of yourself,’” she said.

  Ryan glanced at Tommy in the rearview mirror. “Hey, Green Arrow. Seat belt on, right?”

  “Right,” Tommy said, and put on his headphones. He was listening to an Avenger’s audiobook for what had to be the hundredth time, his lips moving along with the narrator.

  Ryan looked at Kate. “Thought you were going to talk to him.”

  She and Ryan had once dated for four months, during which time they’d decided that if they didn’t go back to being just friends, they’d have to kill each other. Since Kate was opposed to wearing an orange jumpsuit, this arrangement had suited her. “I did talk to him,” she said. “I told him reading was a good thing.”

  “How about talking to himself and dressing like superheroes?”

  Kate looked at Tommy. He was slouched in the seat, still mouthing along to his book, paying them no mind whatsoever. “He’s fine.” She took back Ryan’s coffee, unscrewed the top on the mug, blew away the escaping steam, and handed it back to him.

  “You going to drink it for me, too?” he asked. He laughed. “Just admit it. You can’t help yourself.”

  “Maybe I like taking care of all of you. You ever think of that?”

  “Tell me this, then—when was the last time you did something for yourself, something entirely selfish?”

  “Ryan, I barely have time to go to the bathroom by myself.”

  “Exactly,” he said.

  “Exactly what?”

  Now she laughed. Ryan shook his head and kept driving. They passed the lake just before the bridge into town. The water was still and flat in the low light. On the far side was the dam that held back the snowmelt, controlling the volume feeding into the river so that Sunshine didn’t flood. Along the very top of the dam was a trail, which Kate sometimes ran on the days that she wanted to be able to fit into her skinny jeans. Up there, at the highest pool was an old fallen Jeffrey Pine. On its side, battered smooth by the elements, it made a perfect bench.

  It was her spot.

  She went there to think or when she needed a time-out from the rest of the world, which happened a lot.

  “You get a date for the wedding yet?” Ryan asked.

  No. She’d put that particular task off, and now, with the wedding only two days away, there was only one man who’d made her even think about dating. But tall, dark, and far-too-hot Griffin Reid was way out of her league. In fact, he was so far out of her league, she couldn’t even see the league. “Working on it.”

  Ryan made a sound of annoyance. “You’ve been saying that for months.” He glanced at her over the top of his sunglasses. “Tell me it’s not going to be me.”

  “Hey, I’m not that bad of a date.”

  He slid her another look. “You going to put out afterward?”

  Kate whipped around to look at Tommy, but the kid was still listening intently to his book. “No,” she hissed, and smacked him. “You know I’m not going to put out. We didn’t . . . suit that way.”

  “Well, I’m hoping to . . . ‘suit’ with one of the bridesmaids.” He glanced at her again. “You ought to try it.”

  “Sorry. The bridesmaids don’t do it for me.”

  He smiled.

  “Stop picturing it!”

  Ryan’s smile widened, the big male jerk, and she smacked him again.

  “All I’m saying,” he said, “is that you should stop treading water and try for some fun. Live a little.”

  “You think I have no life.”

  Ryan blew out a sigh. They’d been down this road before. “You know what I think. I think you do everything for everyone except yourself. Look at your track record. You’ve had exactly one boyfriend in five years, and you’re still making him coffee every morning.”

  “And you’re still driving me to work so I can fill you in on the school gossip without you having to actually pay attention in the staff room,” Kate said more mildly than she felt. Maybe because she heard the underlying worry in Ryan’s voice, and she didn’t want anyone to worry about her. She was fine. She was great. “We use each other. And we’re both fine with that.”

  Ryan reached over and pulled out the fancy, thick white envelope with the gold embossing sticking out of her purse. “Fourteen more days.”

  “Hey,” she said, trying to grab it back.

  He waved it under her nose. “Treading water, Kate. And the proof’s right here. Just like it was at this same time last year. And the year before that.”

  Again she tried to grab back the envelope.

  “Why do you carry the offer around with you when you know damn well you aren’t going to go?”

  She wanted to go. But . . . “It means a whole year away from here.”

  “And?”

  She blew out a breath.

  “It’s a dream come true for you,” he said quietly.

  It was. Being offered a full scholarship to the graduate program for science education at the University of San Diego—a world away from Sunshine, Idaho—was her dream. It would take a year to complete, an entire, glorious, science-filled year. With the degree—and the grant that Ryan promised to get her if she finished—she could bring a new and exciting science program to the county’s school district. It was something she’d wanted for a long time. Some women wanted a spa week. Kate wanted to go dissect animals and work with scientists whose work she’d admired for a long time. Yes, it would be great for the school, but the truth was that Kate wanted it for herself.

  Badly.

  “I was thinking maybe I’d accept and go this time,” she said.

  “But?” he asked.

  “But,” she said. “Next year is crucial for Ashley. We have colleges to decide upon